Stripping bottom paint remains one of the most if not the most tiring, nasty jobs a boat owner faces. The concern with early strippers was their toxic nature. The active ingredient used in many was methylene chloride, a known carcinogen.

The good news is that chemical companies have developed and promoted safer, more environmentally friendly strippers over the last several years. These "greener" products have significantly gained in popularity (the bulk of strippers in our test allowed soap-

Above: Our test boat was a 36-foot sailboat with three to four layers of blue, ablative bottom paint. We men-tion the color because the gelcoat below the waterline is red, making it relatively easy for our tester to see the amount of paint removed.

and-water cleanup) and have been the focus of our last two stripper tests. …